Joey Gatewood knew ‘the deal’ at Auburn. Now he’s eager to compete again at UK.
Joey Gatewood didn’t have to transfer.
Gatewood, who arrived at the University Kentucky in January after leaving Auburn, could have stayed in Alabama through the spring and continued making his case to be the Tigers’ starter over Bo Nix, a true freshman who defeated him for the starting job last season.
The writing was on the wall, Gatewood felt.
“There was no hesitancy about Auburn,” Gatewood said Wednesday during his first availability with Lexington media. “I knew what was going to be the deal, so there was really nothing hesitant about what I was going to do there. It was about where I was going to go.”
UK’s staff was one of the first to reach out when he submitted his name in the NCAA transfer portal. It was not a destination he considered as a high school recruit, and he didn’t have any pre-existing relationships with UK’s coaches.
He made two visits to Kentucky: the weekend UK hosted Tennessee and again three weeks later when it hosted Louisville. His commitment came Dec. 5, soon after the second visit.
“Luckily, I made one visit to Kentucky and I was pretty much sold, so I didn’t have to go all around the country looking somewhere,” Gatewood said. “My home is here.”
He enjoyed watching how Kentucky’s coaches engineered the Wildcats’ offense around Lynn Bowden on the fly last season. Gatewood believes elements of that, as well as how they’ve used Terry Wilson, are things that he’ll feel comfortable doing himself.
Wilson, who started two games before a knee injury ended his 2019 season, was Gatewood’s host during his official visit.
“He’s the one who really built the foundation and told me how things are here,” Gatewood said. “ ... That’s my man. I can’t wait to see him get better.”
He and UK intend to apply for a waiver for immediate eligibility. Gatewood didn’t offer insight into what his case for one would be — or how much standing it would have before the NCAA — but he’s ready to get to work regardless of whether he has to sit out the 2020 season.
“Even if I have to sit out a year, it still gives me a whole year to just get better,” Gatewood said. “Work on really getting to know my teammates, really being a leader and being more vocal. Learning the offense and really having a full grasp of it.”
If he is not granted a waiver for immediate eligibility, Gatewood will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2021 season. By then he will be one of at least four scholarship quarterbacks projected to be on UK’s roster at that time: Beau Allen, Amani Gilmore and Nik Scalzo will vie to be Kentucky’s starter that year in addition to Gatewood.
He welcomes the competition, which will start this spring: He’s expected to get reps along with Sawyer Smith, who started three games last year, Allen and Gilmore. (Scalzo and Wilson are recovering from knee injuries.)
“I wouldn’t want to go anywhere without competition,” Gatewood said. “It’s part of the game. What happened at Auburn happened at Auburn. Now I’m ready to compete again.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 10:34 AM.
